$1 Bil. EV Battery Deal in Europe
Samsung SDI is reportedly close to winning a contract to supply one trillion won (US$900 million) worth of lithium-ion batteries for large electric cars in Europe.
According to foreign news and industry sources on Dec. 25, Samsung SDI was in talks with BMZ Group, a multinational battery system supplier headquartered in Germany, early this month after forging a partnership for electric vehicle batteries.
According to local news reports, BMZ ordered about US$1 billion worth of batteries from Samsung SDI over the next five years. "We have been cooperating with BMZ for a long time," a Samsung SDI official said. “We are currently in talks to supply batteries. The size of the deal has not been confirmed yet.”
BMZ is reportedly planning to double its production of electric vehicle battery systems to be supplied to major European automakers next year. The company is building a 4GWh battery cell production line by investing 130 million euros by 2020.